Heel attachment.



G. w. BERRY. HEEL ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I3, 1918.

1 86,209. Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

G BGE. W- BEB QE BANG R, MAIN HEEL ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 13, 1918; Serial No. 234,251.

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoner. WV. BERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor, in the county of Penobscot. and State of Maine, have, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heel; Attachments; and I do declare the following toh a full, clear, and exact description of-the in vention, such as will enable others; skilled. in the art to which it appertains; to make and use" the same.

This invention relates to heel attachments, and it relates more particularly to an improved self securing attachment for a shoe heel of ordinary construction.

One of the objects of this invention is, to provide an attachment of this; character which automatically engages the heel of a shoe when the latter is placed on the heelplate of the attachment.

Another object is to provide, a device of this character which iseasily detached by asingle and simple movement of a. lever by means of a hand or foot of the user.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which is useful either as an .icercfreeper or skate-clamp.

- Another object is to provide a device of this character which is, strong, durable, safe and thoroughly practical.

And another object is to provide a device of this character which consists of few and simple parts and may be; manufactured at a low cost.

Other objects and advantages ma become apparent to persons who read the ollowing details of description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a heel attachment constructed in accordance with this invention and attached to the heel of a shoe Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the parts in a diflerent full line position and in a broken line position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, except that it shows the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of my improved heel attachment; and,

--12, and a pintle 13. In the present instance Patented Dec. 3, 191.3.

spurs or anti-slippi-ngelements 14, are disclosed, But it is to be understood that this attachment may be secured to a skate runner (not shown) or any other device which it is desirable to attach to the heel of the shoe.

The heel-plate 8 and flange 9 may be either formed integrally or secured together so as to form a unitary structure, and the flange 9 is preferably U-shap'ed so as to conform to the contour of a shoe heel, the rear portion being semi-circular, the front portion- 15. being plane or rectilinear and the top portion being wired at 16 so as to add strength and rigidity to the same. The front portion 15- hasits middle portion con siderably lower than its ends and these ends are apertured for the reception ofcorresponding ends of the lever 11, and the corresponding ends of the lever 11 extend through the apcrtured front part 15 and are each formed with a head 17 which prevents disengagement of the lever 11 from the portion 15..

Two opposite portions of the flange or wall 9 are apertured' at 18 for the reception of pairs. of apertured' cars 19 which are formed on the detents 10. These apertured ears are preferably formed by curving the outer ends of the ears 19 into cylindrical form so as to snugly fit around the pintle 13. The apertures 18 are preferably of a size sufficient to allow the cylindrical ends of the cars 19 to be passed therethrough so that these ears may be formed with the cylindrical ends and thereafter passed through the apertures, for convenience in assembling the device. The pintle 13, in the present embodiment does not constitute a pivot, but serves as means for preventing disengagement of the detents 10 from the apertures 18. These detents are supported in the apertures by the portion 20 of the ears, while the edge portions 21, 22 and 23 fit snugly against the inner surfaces of the flange or wall 9. By

this construction, the maximum strength tained. The detents extend inward and.-

downward toward the heeleplate 8 when in their operative position, although they may be substantially horizontal when in the in operative position shown in Figs. 2 and 3,

being held in this position by means of. thespring 12 which is preferably a compound spring; that is, it practically consists of two springs, one for each of the detents 10, and

this compound spring has its middle porto press against the sides of the shoe heel.

It will be seen, therefore, that any tendency to remove the shoe heel from the plate, or

the plate from the shoe heel, increases the tendency of the detents to grip the shoe heel and prevent the removal thereof from the attachment.

The lever or releasing member 11 extends rearward from its fulcrum 17 over the plates or detents 10, and out through two apertures or slots 25 in the rear portion of the wall 9. The lever 11 is preferably formed of stoutand comparatively rigid wire, and its middle portion is formed with a loop 26 which may constitute a manipulative element or pedal which may be depressed for swinging the lever 11 downward in the slots 25 and thereby depressing the detents 10 so as to disengage them from the shoe heel, and upon their disengagement, the device is Very quickly and .easil 7 detached by simply raising the shoe heel or lowering the attachment.

Although I have described this embodiment of my invention very specifically, it is not intended to limit my invention to these exact details of construction and arrangement of parts, but my invention may be slightly changed within the scope of the in- .ventive idea disclosed in the foregoing description and following claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A shoe-heel attachment comprising a heel-plate, a supporting element extending up from the margin of said heel-plate, a detent swingably mounted on said supporting element and "inclined toward said plate,

operative with said detent for engaging with a shoe-heel and holding it on said heelplate, and a lever fulcrumed in said flange and extending through an aperture thereof inclined toward said heel-plate, means 00- to a point of easy access for operation by I the user, the intermediate part of said levers being positioned to bear against said detent so as to disengage the latter from the shoe heel.

3. A shoe-heel attachment comprising a plate, an apertured flange extending up from the margin of said heel-plate, a sheet metal heel-engaging element formed with ears having alined apertures and extending through certain apertures of said flange, a pintle extending through the apertures of said ears exteriorly of the apertures of said flange, and means cooperative with said heel engaging element to holda shoe-heel in engagement with said heel-plate.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. BERRY. Witnesses:

ABRAHAM'Mt RICHMAN, AeNEs F. CURRAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissione'r of Patents,

' Washington, D. G." 

